Did you know?

Small business makes up 98 per cent of all businesses in BC. In 2011, about 391,700 small businesses in BC employed over a million British Columbians.

Resources and Tools for Job Seekers

Are you searching for your first job, looking for a new job, or have been laid off from a job and you don’t know where to turn?

In addition to person-to-person support available to you at the WorkBC Employment Services Centre, there are several online resources and tools noted below that can help you prepare for, find and keep your job.

Budgeting

Employment Standards

Employment standards refer to laws that cover working conditions such as general holidays, vacation and vacation pay, hours of work, minimum wage, overtime, layoff procedures, severance pay, and more. For example, after you have worked for five continuous hours, your employer must give you a 30-minute break. Also, all workers must get at least two weeks of paid vacation every year. Most occupations in B.C. are covered under the Employment Standards Act of British Columbia. Some occupations are covered under the Canadian Labour Code instead.

Occupational safety and health is an area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe and healthy work environment. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation contains legal requirements that must be met by all workplaces under the inspection jurisdiction of WorkSafeBC. It covers areas such as protective clothing, working in confined spaces, chemicals, noise, electrical safety and fall protection to name just a few examples.

In British Columbia, discriminationoccurs when someone is treated differently and poorly because of their race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital or family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, age (19 years and over), criminal conviction (in employment), political belief (in employment), or lawful source of income (in tenancy).

Examples of discrimination include:

firing a woman from a job because she is pregnant;

refusing to hire someone because of their sexual orientation;

refusing to hire someone because they have a physical or mental disability;

paying a woman less than a man who is doing the same job; and

forcing an employee to retire because of their age

The Human Rights Code protects British Columbians from discrimination in areas such as employment, housing, and services and facilities customarily available to the public. Protection from Discrimination gives a brief description of the coverage provided by the Human Rights Code.

BC Labour Relations Code (Provincial)

4. (1) Every employee is free to be a member of a trade union and to participate in its lawful activities.

6. (3) An employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer shall not

(a) discharge, suspend, transfer, lay off or otherwise discipline an employee, refuse to employ or continue to employ a person or discriminate against a person in regard to employment or a condition of employment because the person

(i) is or proposes to become or seeks to induce another person to become a member or officer of a trade union or

(ii) participates in the promotion, formation or administration of a trade union.

Opening Doors

We work in strong partnerships with local agencies to provide exemplary employment services to all British Columbians. Our mission is to open doors and inspire all British Columbians to succeed and we believe the Employment Program will be the step, for many individuals, on the road to achieving success through employment.

Tom Burnell
CEO
Open Door Group

The Employment Program of British Columbia is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia